British detain alleged pilot tutor

September 30, 2001|By Liz Sly, Tribune foreign correspondent.

LONDON — American authorities have begun extradition proceedings in a London court against a British-based Algerian pilot suspected of being the flight instructor for four of the 19 hijackers who attacked U.S. landmarks Sept. 11.

Investigators consider the arrest a breakthrough in the search for living co-conspirators to the New York and Pentagon attacks.

Lotfi Raissi, 27, the first of dozens of suspects arrested throughout Europe to be officially linked to the U.S. hijackings, was ordered held without bail Friday after a British prosecutor told the court that Raissi may have helped the hijackers acquire their piloting skills.

"What we say is that he was in fact a lead instructor for four of the pilots responsible for the hijackings," said the prosecutor, Arvinda Sambir. "He was in the background to facilitate training of these pilots. His job was to ensure the pilots were capable and trained."

Sambir said Raissi's mission related to American Airlines Flight 77, the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. It was unclear whether he was suspected of training other hijackers.

Raissi, whose name appeared on the FBI's watch list immediately after the hijackings, made several trips to the U.S. over the summer and made contact with some of the suspected hijackers in Las Vegas, Sambir said. A source close to the investigation confirmed that five of the 19 hijackers made trips to Las Vegas over the summer.

Sambir confirmed that Raissi was in Las Vegas on June 23 with his wife. The FBI has surveillance videos of him traveling to Arizona with one of the hijackers after that, she said.

The owner of a Phoenix-area flight school said Raissi dropped by in June or July to inquire about taking a refresher course on flying a Boeing 737.

Raissi, who was detained Sept. 21 after the FBI reportedly traced him from records of phone calls made by the suspected hijackers, attended the same flight schools as four of the hijackers and also supervised their training, Sambir told the court. He lived in a Phoenix apartment complex as late as September 2000.

Formal charges have not been filed against Raissi. His extradition is being sought on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by the U.S. attorney in Phoenix, accusing him of falsifying Federal Aviation Administration forms.